Changeable display amusement device



Sept. 14, 1954 A. M. SHEMET 2,638,820

CHANGEABLE DISPLAY AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed July 25. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

liTTU/P/VEY p 14, 1954 A. M. SHEMET 2,688,82

CHANGEABLE DISPLAY AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed July 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I V/ J INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 14, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE CHANGEABLEZ DISPLAY AMUSEMENT DEVICE Alexander M. Shemet, Jackson Heights, N. Y.

Application July 25', 1950, Serial; No-17'5fl00 3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to an amusement which is primarily adapted to serve as a toy but can also be utilized in connection with advertising, educational and display apparatus. More particularly, the device is of the type which embodies a plurality of foldably connected three dimensional geometrical figures the sides of which are provided with indicia, such as. coloring, symbols or legends adapted to be arranged in various combinationsby movement of the figures into various positions.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a device of the foregoing character which is adapted to be utilized for a great number of purposes.

Another object is to provide such a device which is attractive and pleasing in appearance and fascinates and amuses children as well asgrown-ups.

Another object is to provide such a device which may be operated manually or by automatically operated drive means.

A further object is to provide such a device which is simple and economical in construction whereby the same can be sold as an inexpensive toy or be given away as a souvenir.

Other and further objects will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention. in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects are accomplished by providing at least six annularly grouped, foldably connected tetrahedrons, which preferably are formed of a strip of sheet material having folds defining the sides of the tetrahedrons but may be formed of foldably linked solid elements, if desired. The tetrahedrons are so constructed and arranged that they may be simultaneously revolved or twisted about their annular axis to successively bring into view the four sides thereof. Twisting of the tetrahedrons may be effected by manually or automatically operated mechanism as will become apparent hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a strip or blank of sheet material adapted to be utilized in constructing the annular group of tetrahedrons in accordance with the device of the present in.- vention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the strip shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the strip folded to provide the tetrahedrons prior to annular grouping thereof.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the device with the tetrahedrons grouped annularly.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of one. form of mechanism for effecting movement of the tetrahedrons.

Fig. 6 is a side view of the mechanism shown in Fig.- 5.-

Referri-ng to the drawings in detail and more particularly to Fig; 1 thereof, there is shown an elongate strip or blank 10 of sheet material, such as cardboard or the like which is. constructed and arranged to provide the sides of the tetrahedrons. The strip has parallel long sides H and i2. and has parallel short sides disposed at an angle of. about sixty degrees with respect to the long, sides- H and I! at it and t5, respectively. The strip is providedv with a plurality of folds defining triangular surfaces which constitute the side surfaces of the tetrahedrons.

Four triangular surfaces are provided for eachtetrahedron and a sufiicient number of such surfaces are provided to form at least six tetrahedrons. In the embodiment shown herein by way of example six tetrahedrons can be formed from the strip, an even number being preferred, although the invention may be practiced with an odd. number oi tetrahedrons which number is seven or greater. The four sides of. each tetrahedron may bear different indicia which may be the same or different than that on the corresponding sides of the other tetrahedrons. For example, as shown, the triangular surfaces may be of four different colors, such as blue, green, red and yellow, so arranged that the correspondingly colored sides of each tetrahedron are viewed simultaneously.

In order to arrange the triangles to facilitate formation of the tetrahedrons, the strip has a longitudinal fold ll equidistantly spaced between and parallel to the long sides H and i2, and has a number of equidistantly spaced folds I8 parallel to the short sides It and Hi. The number of folds H3 in each device is one less-than the number of tetrahedrons to be provided since the short sides, when foldably connected, serve as. such a fold. The strip is further provided with folds 20 disposed at an angle of about sixty degrees with respect to the fold l1 and extending from the fold I! to points at which the folds l9 meet the long sides l l and I2. In the form shown in Fig. 1, the angle between folds 20 and fold i1 is slightly less than In Fig. 3, the strip is shown after being twisted about its longitudinal axis to form the tetrahedrons which are then grouped annularly, as shown in Fig. 4, by foldably interconnecting the pairs of like lettered edges a, b; c, d, e, f, g, and h, respectively, and foldably interconnecting all of the edges a and h. When the strip is so arranged, all the green surfaces will appear together at the center of the formation and the yellow surfaces will surround the green surfaces, while the device is in the position shown in Fig. 4. Upon simultaneously twisting or revolving the tetrahedrons inwardly our outwardly about the annular axis in which they are arranged other correspondingly colored surfaces will be caused to appear together.

It will be understood that instead of merely coloring the side surface to produce a fascinating display of changing colors, correspondingly related surfaces may have suitable legends applied thereon which when viewed together construct sentences or related subject matter adapted for educational or advertising purposes.

The device, as described so far, is adapted for manual manipulation thereof, but is readily converted for mechanical operation thereof by mounting a pair of disc-like semi-elliptical members 25 on each other fold l9, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4. When the device is arranged to annularly group the tetrahedrons (Fig. 4) the members 25 are disposed in radial planes and each pair thereof is adapted to form a pulley, cam, turbine wheel or gear, as will become apparent. The term elliptical is used herein in a broad sense and is intended to include a circle which is a special case of an ellipse having equal perpendicularly related axes.

Referring now to Figs. and 6, there is shown a device which may be utilized as a toy or an advertising or educational apparatus. This device comprises a hemi-spherical frame mounted on a bracket 29 and constructed of semi-circular members 30 disposed in spider-like relation in radial planes on a central bushing 3|, a shaft 32 rotatably mounted in the bushing and extending upwardly therefrom, a capstan 33 at the upper end of the shaft and rotatable therewith, an annular member 34 supported at the free ends of the frame members 38, pulley means 35 rotatably mounted on the annular member, an annular grouping of tetrahedrons in accordance with the invention provided with members 25 having peripheral grooves 36 to serve as pulleys, and a continuous strand extending about the pulley means and the pulleys and twisted about the capstan. Rotation of the shaft 32 will effect rotation of the pulleys which in turn will cause the tetrahedrons to be twisted or revolved. The shaft may be rotated manually by engaging the wheel 31 or may be power driven by suitable drive means connected to the wheel.

Referring again to Figs. 5 and 6, there are shown cup shaped elements 50 for effecting movement of the tetrahedrons, which elements may be optionally added to the device and which may be secured to the annular member 34 in any suitable manner, as by welding. Thus, instead of rotating the shaft 32 to effect movement of the tetrahedrons, as described hereinbefore, the elements 50 may be actuated by air, as by a youngster running with the toy. The shaft 32 in this instance is maintained stationary, as by screwing in a thumb screw 5| mounted on the bracket 29. Further, to make the arrangement optional a set screw 52 for holding the bushing 3| stationary is also shown, the set screw being loosened when the bushing is to be rotated, as is readily understood. The operation of the wind cup arrangement will accordingly be the reverse of that heretofore described in that rotation of the annular member 34 produces movement of the continuous strand around the pulleys 35, members 25, and capstan 33 to thereby effect twisting movement of the tetrahedrons. It is to be noted that in view of the stationary shaft 32 the capstan is likewise stationary, so that the strand slides therearound while the pulleys 35 and members 25 rotate therewith.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides a novel and useful amusement device which is simple and economical in construction and can readily withstand such rough usage to which it may normally be subjected.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matters are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. An amusement device comprising at least six annular grouped tetrahedrons fromed from a strip of material having an outline constituted by a pair of long and a pair of short parallel sides with each short side disposed at an angle of about sixty degrees with respect to a long side, said long sides and said short sides forming a parallelogram, said strip having a longitudinal fold equidistantly spaced between and parallel to the long sides and having a number of equidistantly spaced folds parallel to the short sides which number is one less than the number of tetrahedrons and having folds disposed at an angle of about sixty degrees with respect to the longitudinal fold extending from the longitudinal fold points at which said last mentioned felds meet the long sides whereby a number of triangular formations are provided which number is four times the number of tetrahedrons and which formations constitute the side surfaces of the tetrahedrons.

2. An amusement device according to claim 1, wherein a pair of spaced semi-elliptical members in tandem are secured at their fiat edges to the material along at least one of the folds parallel to the short sides and said members extend outwardly of said strip.

3. An amusement device comprising at least six annularly grouped tetrahedrons formed from a strip of material each having foldably connected sides and each having at least two edges defined by foldably connected sides foldably connected to corresponding edges of adjacent tetrahedrons, elliptical members secured to the material at three of said last mentioned edges, shaft means centrally located within the annular grouping including means in driving connection with said elliptical members, bracket means for supporting said shaft and driving means, said members constituting pulleys and said means providing the driving connection comprising spaced pulley means on said bracket, and a continuous strand engaging said pulley means and pulleys and being twisted about said shaft means whereby rotation of said shaft means effects rotation of said pulley means and pulleys and twisting of said tetrahedrons about their annular path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,997,022 Stalker Apr. 9, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 588,842 Great Britain -l June 4, 194,7 

